INTERNI magazine issue #593

The first monographic issue on the Regions of Italy that are making great progress in the field of design, in the widest sense of the term, covering architecture, landscape, design and art, is on Sicily. An article by Philippe Daverio, art historian and professor in the Department of Design at the University of Palermo, offers an interpretation of the character of the Sicilians and the complex culture of the island, illustrated by the most important projects of renewal and renovation of a specific cultural heritage, updated in a contemporary key. Stories of cities, palaces, houses, typologies and traditions, reinvented in an innovative, productive way. Diego Cammarata, the mayor of Palermo, emphasizes how the rebirth of the port, the waterfront and the historical center become the themes of reference of his city’s “New Deal”. Vittorio Sgarbi, mayor of Salemi, among other things, narrates the unique experience of this ‘republic of creativity’ (also thanks to the contribution of Oliviero Toscani). Bernardo Tortorici, President of the Association of Historic Estates, talks about the importance of renovating palaces with modern methods, facilitated by the entry on the scene of new, enlightened owners. Nino Bevilacqua, President of the Port Authority of Palermo, patron of the Goca and an enthusiastic collector of contemporary art, is interviewed by Davide Rampello, focusing on new places, neighborhoods and spaces in Palermo that influence the cultural life and utilization of the city. Another new development of Sicily, the “island without a bridge” for the writer Matteo Collura, is the concept of the Distributed Museum, with recently founded institutions including Palazzo Belmonte Riso of Palermo, extending the process to the contexts and protagonists of contemporary art. The pages on design, finally, show individual objects and recent research, keeping track of the names of young designers. Because Sicily looks to the future.